Electrostatic precipitators are widely used to remove suspended particulate matter from gaseous emissions.
In general, an electrostatic precipitator includes one or more high voltage discharge electrodes that have portions of their surfaces designed to facilitate corona discharge therefrom. The corona discharge produces an ionising electric field through which the suspended particles in the gaseous emissions am caused to flow, thereby becoming electrically charged, or ionised.
These discharge electrodes have corresponding collector electrodes, which are grounded, and are designed to eliminate the formation of corona discharge at the surfaces. These collector electrodes attract the ionised particles in the gaseous emissions and collect these particles on the surface thereof.
In most electrostatic precipitators, the discharge electrodes are arranged vertically and are secured to masts to form elongate discharge electrode assemblies. Each discharge assembly is attached, at its operatively upper end to a hanger, which is electrically connected to a high-voltage electrical supply, to form a discharge electrode “curtain” that is suspended in the gaseous emission.
Increasingly strict emission standards have led to a continuous-demand for higher collection rates in electrostatic precipitators and this has, in turn, led to a general need for improvement in the performance of electrostatic precipitators. One of the ways of improving this performance is by increasing the charge imparted to is particulate matter by the ionisation process described above. It is known that the design and shape of a discharge electrode affects the level of corona discharge necessary for the ionisation process.